Water Survey Says...

On April 23, the San Diego County Water Authority released results of a survey conducted last month in which 700 county residents were asked about water-supply awareness, conservation measures, restrictions, and the development of additional water sources.

“This survey shows the people in San Diego County are aware and concerned about our continued water-supply challenges,” stated Carlsbad mayor and water authority board chairman Claude “Bud” Lewis in a press release. “It also shows that residents support investment in projects to enhance the region’s water-supply reliability.”

Here are some of the findings from the survey:

*95 percent of residents said they were aware that San Diego County faces a potentially significant water shortage; 87 percent viewed the problem as long-term.

*92 percent felt saving water is “a civic responsibility. Water conservation was seen as a duty on par with preventing litter/pollution and with recycling used materials, as a greater responsibility than serving on a jury, and less of a responsibility than voting in elections.”

*The majority of respondents believe seawater desalination is the “single most important thing that can be done to ensure a safe and reliable water supply.”

*60 percent of respondents said they would vote in favor of additional property tax increases — up to $20 per month — as funding for alternative water-supply projects.

*Lastly, about potable reuse (often referred to as “toilet to tap”): “Support for using recycled water as part of the region’s drinking water supply has increased substantially since 2005, the last time it was asked in the Water Authority’s public opinion poll. About 63 percent of respondents in 2009 favored adding recycled water that had received advanced treatment to drinking water supplies, compared to only 28 percent in 2005.”

As for the section of the survey that dealt with potable reuse, the survey revealed that 85 percent of subjects said they know recycled water is currently used for irrigation and freeway landscaping throughout the county; 90 percent are “strongly in favor” of using reclaimed water for non-drinking purposes; 3 percent staunchly opposed it.

The survey indicated 53 percent of those polled said recycled water can be made safe enough to drink.

The survey broke down the numbers along race and gender lines. Asian Americans rank the highest — at 63 percent — in believing recycled water can be made potable. Whites were next at 53 percent, Hispanics at 48 percent, and African Americans came in at 44 percent.

Gender-wise, males were 17 percent more likely than females in accepting the notion that recycled water could be treated sufficiently for consumption.

To read the entire survey, go to the San Diego County Water Authority website at sdcwa.org and click on the tab for news and publications.

Comments

Hey Spliff, you are so welcome. You are one of the funnest people around here. Now, if we could cultivate pure bong water, we'd be onto something there. Until then, you'll probably want to stick to Schnapps.

I am truly amazed that 63% percent of people are now supporting recycled, a.k.a. toilet to tap, drinking water. What are people thinking? Even if the technology is out there, ever heard of human error?!! There are probably viruses in human waste that haven't even been identified yet, and they're going to be making it drinkable?

Before we go down that road, why doesn't CALTRANS start using recycled water to irrigate the freeways instead of drinking water? And why are we all watering our lawns with drinking water? Does this make sense? I'd like to see the City use recycled water for all irrigation, and leave our drinking water alone. It tastes bad enough already, for gosh sakes!!

WOW!!! I think they are trying to let people know , that they've been using recycled water (toilet water) as drinking water for a long time now. They just want your opinon on it so they can legally say they are doing it. With all this technology , why aren't they finding ways to convert the ocean water to make it where it can be used to help our water troubles??

Fact 1: The earth is a closed system. There is no more or less water today than at any time in the past or future. It's ALL recycled. In fact, chances are you are carrying an H2O molecule that was once in the gut of George Washington.

Fact 2: We've been drinking recycled toilet water for decades...by the time the water gets that far down the Colorado, it's been "augmented" by outflow from other municipal systems.

Fact 3: San Diego is basically a desert next to a coast line. So long as we insist on farming grasses in our front yards and subsidizing golf courses, we're squandering what we cannot easily replace.

Fact 4: The last hundred years may have been extraordinarily WET compared to previous eras. We cannot sit on our hands and wait for a miracle. Time to get to work on recycling our water and ending the waste.

Fred I happen to agree with you wholeheartedly on this subject. You know me and you may remember my name. We have recently gone head to head on another blog. You are more than a worthy adversary. I personally do not want you as an enemy but I am forced to look out for someone's interest other than my own. I am trying to rid my neighborhood of a foul machine that has controlled
my neighborhood for years. I have no where near the experience in the arena that you do. When we met, you and I had some very common goals. My hope is that you begin to understand that I am doing what I believe is better for my neighborhood. I personally liked you then and respect you now. If we happen to bump heads again I hope you realize it is nothing personal. It's just me trying to change my neighborhood.

Spliff I recently had the pleasure of talking with a rep from Surfrider regarding water desalination. Currently it is very cost prohibitive. It takes 5 units of energy to produce 1 unit of water to put it in laymans terms. It is also an evironmental nightmare unless the plant is offshore and the intake pipes are substrait instead of surface pipes. In short the plant they are tryng to force through up in Carlsbad would be a boondoggle. Water recycling for potable water uses seems like our most feasible manner for dealing with our water problems. Fred mentions all the various reasons for this in his posting.

Where there is a will there is a way. The government is throwing money every where else , why not put a few billion towards helping this water problem. But until then , wait i got cotton mouth i need a glass of toilet water!!!

Yes, the earth is a "closed system", which means all water could be considered recycled. However, how can we even compare a "water cycle" provided by chemicals and machinery with the water cycle provided by Mother Nature? Nature doesn't make mistakes...people do.

Spliff wrote: "But until then , wait i got cotton mouth i need a glass of toilet water!!!"

Spliff, this song is dedicated to you:

"...And I give a flower to the big fat cop/
He takes his club and he beats me up/
I give a flower to the garbage man/
He stuffs my girl in a garbage can/

And I give it to the landlord when the rent comes round/
He throws it in a toilet and he flush it down/
It goes down to the sewer, with the yuck 'a runnin' through 'er/
And it runs into the river that we drink!

nooooooooooo lol i meant the actresses in the silly chick flicks i mentioned before sometimes get confused with each other!!! i wouldn't ever say that about our lisa lol...
xoxo
i was asking where she had been because i haven't seen her here in a while...
:)